


Overlays

by Jicklet



Series: A Princess and a Pirate walk into each other's lives [2]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Existentialism, F/M, Fade to Black, First Time, Nothing explicit just feelings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:47:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26639068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jicklet/pseuds/Jicklet
Summary: Seamista September Prompt: "Firsts"Following what they saw in the alternate "perfect" reality, Mermista invites Sea Hawk to stay the night.
Relationships: Mermista/Sea Hawk (She-Ra)
Series: A Princess and a Pirate walk into each other's lives [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1898560
Comments: 7
Kudos: 12





	Overlays

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place directly after chapter 4 of my other fic, "[I Guess I Care About You](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26070847/chapters/63408337)," if you'd like to read that first for context!
> 
> Otherwise, to catch you up: This takes place after Mermista gets back from stopping the alternate-reality portal at the end of Season 3. In the reality they both saw, Mermista and Sea Hawk were together for real and happy, and so were her parents.

The castle door slides shut behind the former King of Salineas, leaving Mermista and Sea Hawk nearly alone in the entry hall.

(Her regular guard is there, of course. They’re all united in pretending he’s not.)

"That was nice," Sea Hawk says, cheerfully surprised.

"It was weird," Mermista retorts, thinking back on the oddly pleasant dinner. "But… Yeah. Nice too, I guess."

Sea Hawk is looking at her like he's about to say something, leave maybe. And she finds she doesn't want him to.

"Oh… it got dark," she says, looking out the window like she hadn't noticed hours ago. "You wanna just stay?"

* * *

It's not the first time he's stayed over at the castle, usually when there's been a storm and he found himself nearby.

It is the first time she takes his hand and leads him to her room.

He looks pleasantly confused as she stops them outside the door. "I've never been over here before."

"Yeah," she replies simply.

She lifts the hand she's still holding. Brushes his knuckles across her lips.

He goes still.

Her heart is thumping so hard she figures he has to be able to hear it. Her face is burning and she doesn't know how to look at him. If he turns her down— her brain whites out in self preservation.

"Sea Hawk," she whispers.

"Yes, princess?" His voice is hoarse.

She looks up at him through her lashes. He looks nervous, and hopeful, and _longing._ It tugs at something it recognizes inside her.

She surges up and kisses him.

* * *

Sea Hawk is in Mermista's bed.

He's on his back, his princess above him, kissing him like she's trying to pull the life from his overwhelmed body. Most of their clothes are still on, though his shirt disappeared at some point and _oh_ she is working on his pants.

He's had dreams like this. Many fantastic dreams. But they weren't even the best ones, and that thought gives him pause.

The other reality they both saw… he hasn't thought too much about it. After all, until she'd corrected him, he'd been assuming it was a surprisingly normal (albeit lovely) hallucination. But he suspects it’s been haunting her all evening. Mermista has been much quieter than normal, and he kept catching her just looking at him, like she's trying to figure something out.

Is this part of her answer?

(But then, what was the question?)

He sits up, knocking her hands from his fasteners in the process. Trying desperately to catch his breath, he asks, "M-Mermista, are you… You _want_ to…?"

 _"Shh,"_ she says, trying to press her lips back to his, but…

He knows that all this, the time they've been spending, it all means more to her than she can admit. And that's fine. His dearest has always spoken a language that's been a little tougher to hear. But he's tried hard to learn it, and what he's discovered about Mermista's patience is that she doesn't have it for things or people she doesn't like. When she invites him to stay, she means it.

But tonight it seems she's inviting him farther than ever before, and he just can't _assume._

There's also the part where this means something to him, it means a lot, and he wants it to be right. He doesn't want it to be something that can be written off as an accident. He needs this to be something they're deciding, together, not just stumbled into.

It feels like lighting his ship on fire for the first time— he doesn’t want to, but it needs to be done— to stop her advance, lips an inch from his own. To look her in the eye and ask: "Mermista wait, you… You have to say it, please."

Her jaw sets.

And he's nervous, part of him already prepared that she's about to get flustered and shut down, that he’s about to be back on his ship… but.

Her eyes search his face and she seems to realize something. Whatever she sees there, something cracks.

She presses her forehead to his, hand coming up to cup his jaw.

His heart stops.

As it restarts in double time, he hears her whisper, "Sea Hawk… I want this."

Part of him starts to breathe again. _She does. She does want…_ "And… Me?" He must be pushing his luck, yet he just can't stop.

But her nod is immediate, tilting her face as she does to brush her cheek against his. Her face is very warm. "You. I want… you."

And that's enough. With a happy sigh, he turns and crushes his lips back to hers.

* * *

Later, before they fall asleep, he whispers into the dark, "Why tonight?"

She's spooning him, he can't see her face. Still, he feels her turn away, as if she could hide further. At first, he thinks she isn't going to answer.

Then, she asks: "Did you feel…different?"

"What, before this?" he asks. "Would I say this night has changed my life? Well—"

 _"No,_ you sappy dork." she interrupts. "I meant, in the _'perfect'_ reality, or whatever."

He rolls to lie on his back, and she does the same, their heads turned towards each other. He can just make out her frustrated expression in the moonlight shining through the window.

"I suppose I didn't," he considers. "Same old Sea Hawk." He cocks his head, curious. "Why, did I seem different?"

"No." She breaks eye contact with him, looks up at the ceiling instead. "I don't know."

"Darling, what's on your mind?"

She doesn't react to the endearment, just blows out a slow breath. "She didn't feel like me. She… _I_ was all carefree, and whatever. And I could…" she looks down. "Is that how I'm supposed to be? Without all this?" she gestures vaguely, indicating the war, Salineas, everything and anything.

She sounds tired, and unsure of herself, and that more than anything is what unsettles him. "Hey," he says softly, moving closer to wrap his arm around her waist. " _'Supposed to be'_ nothing. You don't have to be anyone you're not." He chuckles. "Especially not with me."

She scoffs. But she also scoots a little closer, puts her hand on his arm.

"Whatever," she continues. "It wasn't real, is the point. It doesn't matter."

It seems to be mattering a lot to her. "Doesn't it?"

She fixes him with a look from inches away. "I'm real. Me, here. And you," she pokes him in the chest. "Real. That's what matters."

 _Oh,_ he realizes. His heart swells with feeling as it finally clicks, what exactly about it all has been scaring her, and how it answers his earlier question. _"This_ is real," he agrees, squeezing her waist.

His brain catches up with him and he realizes that might've been too far.

But she just squeezes his arm, her expression steady. "You get it."

It's almost a question. "Yes," he replies.

It's the right answer. She chuckles, more a release in tension than anything.

Before the moment ends, he rushes to clarify one last thing. "And, Mermista… I like you." He tucks a lock of hair behind her ear, his smile unbearably fond. "Just as you are."

For a long moment, her eyes only trace his face before she smiles at him, a slow, soft thing. "I'm starting to think…" she trails off.

"What?" he prompts.

But she just shakes her head, rueful, before laying it down on his chest.

"Good night, Sea Hawk."

"…Sweet dreams, Mermista."


End file.
